Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Bought by Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc.

Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 413,071 shares of the casino operator's stock after buying an additional 9,414 shares during the quarter. Las Vegas Sands accounts for approximately 1.9% of Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. owned 0.06% of Las Vegas Sands worth $15,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after buying an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $730,295,000 after buying an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $481,873,000 after buying an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $598,988,000 after buying an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Macquarie reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.58.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:LVS traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.11. 5,912,155 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,936,007. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.54. The firm has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 11.64%. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Las Vegas Sands's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the People's Republic of China; and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.